media_artricles :: 2014

Borel throws season best in Diamond League finale

T&T Olympian Cleopatra Borel threw a season best 19.13m to finish fourth in the women’s shot put in the final leg and fourth overall at the IAAF Diamond League Belgacom Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, Belgium. Both she and Richard Thompson narrowly missed the podium after a long season of the series of global series, with both finishing fourth overall. Renny Quow, meanwhile, won the International 400m race at the same venue, although it was not an official Diamond League race. Quow clocked 45.37 seconds, ahead of Kevin Borlee (45.44) of the host country and Anderson Freitas Henriquez (45.52) of Brazil.

Despite finishing fourth, Borel, T&T’s most decorated shot put thrower, who recently claimed silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, landed the iron ball at 19.13 metres, three-hundredths of a metre further than her previous season best, which she recorded in Cuba, earlier this year. That was her third attempt, with the others reading 18.81, 18.27, 18.52, 18.11 and 18.27. Valerie Adams of New Zealand was crowned the overall Diamond League women’s shot put champion, winning the final event and amassing 32 points.

Meanwhile, Thompson, who has seen mixed results in a hectic schedule as of late, retained his fourth place in the men’s 100m standings, even after he finished down the pack in seventh. Thompson, who held the world leading time in the men’s 100m (9.82 seconds, personal best) earlier this season, ran 10.10 seconds (wind +0.6). Thompson won one 100m race on the Diamond League circuit this season, in Oslo, Norway, where he produced a 10.02 mark. A number of T&T athletes, including Thompson, Borel, Keshorn Walcott and Michelle-Lee Ahye, will shift their focus to the IAAF Continental Cup, in Marrakech, Morocco, from September 13-14, where they will represent the Americas.

Top